Pilgrimage with the Abbot

Last year my wife and I had a wonderful opporuntiy to travel to Europe with the Abbot of Heart Mountain Monastery and his wife. It was a five week pilgrimage to monasteries and holy places in England and Scotland. I kept a little journal of the venture, parts of which are posted here. Hope you enjoy. h

Travel is what old folks are supposed to do, at least in their “early old folks” stage,” if not later. (“Old folks” being those who qualify for medicare. So the Abbot’s wife does not qualify, the other three of us do.)

I like the “pilgrimage” notion, since in general I’d prefer to stay home, sit by my zen garden, not exert the mental, emotional and physical energy it takes to get out of town. Somehow, though, this pilgrimage appeared in my/our Present Moment and, as I have been trained to do, simply said “Yes” to it. My yes had to override my first response, the habitual “nah, too expensive and not worth the bother,” response that I have to many of life’s invitations.

In my notes I tried to not overwhelm folks with musings but rather simply bring them some news and views from merry old England, and Scotland, and maybe even Iceland, as the journey unfolds. Most of the updates are short– even haiku short.